Doctor Who: Television Ratings Versus Reality

The ratings say that Doctor Who is losing viewers and popularity. These numbers do not take the full picture into account.

There is no questioning the overall popularity of Doctor Who. Seemingly anywhere that one goes, a Whovian can be found, either by a decal on their vehicle or an article of clothing. Based off of the conversations, and the prevalence of Doctor Who items in stores or displayed by fans, the show has never been more popular.

Yet, there are metrics that would claim otherwise. According to the ratings, Doctor Who is once again sliding, falling to another record low. Both Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi have claimed the show’s broadcasting time as the reason for such a performance, but this was the same gripe that has been there since the show was rebooted.

What these ratings numbers fail to take into account is that there are other ways than television to watch any given program. With sites such as Netflix and Hulu having these shows available, as long as a fan does not mind waiting a day or two, they can still watch the program. As more people are leaving cable and relying upon these methods to watch their favorite shows, those television viewing numbers will continue to decrease.

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• The Doctor and Donna are better than ever in “Wild Blue Yonder”
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• Jodie Whittaker didn’t pick up on any of the hate for her version of the Doctor

Of course, it is easier to simply look at the numbers instead of actually noting the continued popularity of the show. Netflix, Hulu and other similar providers do not count towards the ratings, so it is easy to dismiss any views from those platforms. Doctor Who is slowly dying because the Black Box tells us so – these other methods of watching the show don’t matter!

While it is believable that there may have been a ratings dip last season, as Series Eight was considered to be one of the weaker seasons in the new incarnation of the show, that just is not the case this year. Series Nine has rediscovered the magic of the program, showcasing Capaldi in his element as the Doctor. Even those episodes that could be considered among the worst for this season would have been on the list of the better episodes for Series Eight.

Next: Terror of the Zygons Revisited

This is one of those cases where the numbers should be ignored. Doctor Who is still as popular as ever, and the increasing amount of fans is a testament to that. To suggest otherwise is to ignore the truth about the show.